Dallas Airports Fully Restored After Major Telecom Outage Disrupts Travel
UPDATE: Operations at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport are back to normal as of Saturday afternoon, following a significant telecommunications outage that wreaked havoc on travel plans just one day prior. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed recovery efforts are underway for the flights impacted by this disruption.
On July 14, 2023, a telecommunications failure led to over 280 delays and at least 155 cancellations at Dallas Fort Worth, a major hub for American Airlines. The airline reported cancelling more than 530 flights on Friday alone, with an additional 160 cancellations recorded on Saturday, according to FlightAware data.
American Airlines’ Chief Operating Officer, David Seymour, described Friday as “an incredibly challenging day” for the airline, which saw only nine flights depart from DFW between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. CT, a drastic reduction from the usual 100 departures per hour. The chaos affected over 100,000 customers due to cancellations, delays, and missed connections.
The outage stemmed from “multiple failures” of the TDMI data telecommunications service provided by Frontier Communications, impacting the FAA’s Dallas TRACON facility. The FAA stated that oversight by L3Harris, a contractor, failed to ensure that system redundancies operated correctly. The FAA emphasized that this incident highlights the “urgent need” for modernization of air traffic control systems.
In a candid letter to employees, Seymour expressed frustration over the response from Frontier and L3Harris during the crisis, noting the lack of urgency in resolving the issue. He explained that two cut fiber optic cables disrupted both primary and secondary data paths, significantly limiting the FAA’s ability to release flights from DFW. Although the FAA managed to develop alternative methods for flight releases, they were painfully slow, failing to keep pace with American Airlines’ operational needs.
Looking ahead, the FAA, L3Harris, and Frontier worked through the night to address the outage but were only partially successful. Passengers should remain vigilant as airlines continue to implement recovery plans and address the backlog caused by this unprecedented disruption.
This incident serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities within our national airspace infrastructure and the critical need for upgrades to ensure reliable and resilient travel for millions of passengers. As operations normalize, officials will likely continue to assess the long-term impacts of this telecommunications breakdown. Stay tuned for further updates on recovery efforts and travel conditions throughout the weekend.
